Updated 11:23 pm, Saturday, February 4, 2012

When ballplayer begets first-round draft pick begets instant celebrity and coaches and parents give way to agents and handlers, it's not long before a few go-to responses get to be preprogrammed, spring-loaded for the tidy dismissal of their tiny targets.

"You'll have to check with my agent, he handles all that ..."

"The team knows best. I'm gonna do whatever they tell me to do ..."

"Sure, I used to root for those guys. But the Red Sox just paid for my first sports car. I'm in, Nation."

And so it is excusable, then, that Barnes -- the former Bethel High and UConn standout pitcher, and the No. 1 draft pick of the Boston Red Sox -- would first have to clear any prior commitments and thus not be leaping at the chance to visit the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball booth for Sox-Yanks at Fenway Park.

Excusable for most, that is. It's just that the man making this particular offer was that global managerial icon, the master of faux-mustachioed mischief, the celebrated Stamfordite and the surefire owner of every room he enters, Mr. Bobby Valentine.

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Indeed, Barnes and Valentine met in Barnes' hometown last August when both were guest speakers at the welcome banquet for the New England Cal Ripken League Championships. Indeed, Valentine put the booth visit out there, and Barnes unfortunately blurted, "I'll have to check my schedule."

Whoops. That, folks, is a hanger right in Valentine's wheelhouse. Welcome to The Show, kid.

Lost is Valentine's exact reaction, but confirmed by those lucky enough to be seated nearby, the then-ESPN analyst took Barnes' answer like he'd been brushed aside. Big-timed. Patronized. Even if deep down, it was understood Barnes was being kneejerk and not a jerk.

The 6-foot-4 righthander was teased down to size.

"I definitely remember that," a sheepish Barnes said last Saturday from a charity clinic at Frozen Ropes in Danbury, yet another stop on the Matt Barnes tour and a near and dear one, since he's trained there from age 13.

"I never actually called him or took him up on that."

BRIDGE LINKED

Valentine, the 44th field manager in the 111-year history of the Red Sox, said over the phone last week that he didn't recall too many specifics from his initial encounter with Barnes, only that he did extend a different offer that's taken on new meaning since his Dec. 1 appointment.

"There wasn't time to impart much wisdom," said Valentine, who himself was once a Connecticut kid pegged by a proud franchise for stardom when the Los Angeles Dodgers made him the fifth overall pick out of Rippowam High School in Stamford in 1968.

"I just told him if he ever needs anything, I'm not too far away."

The short distance between Barnes and Valentine has, of course, been bridged. Their link, as native sons now sharing New England's ultimate burden, has been strengthened.

The Red Sox were dueling with the Yankees for the divisional lead later in that same summer day, and they were a franchise flourishing when they signed Barnes a few weeks later. Though immediately headed for at least a couple of years of minor league seasoning, Barnes could never have imagined he was meeting his would-be big league skipper. Who in the name of Grady Little saw that one coming?

"It's definitely weird," said Barnes, who did reach out to Valentine for congratulatory purposes if not to cash in on their original deal. "But I'm really glad that I did that (appearance) and got a chance to meet him. From when I've talked to him, he seems like a really good guy. He's got good aspirations of what he wants to do with the club, where he wants to take them. I'm excited. Hopefully, I get to work with him soon."

Weirder than the coincidental union of No. 1 draft pick and future manager is the catastrophic final chapter of the 2011 Red Sox, the remnants of which enter the 2012 season facing questions about World Series dreams drowned in September suds.

Barnes, a Yankees fan by birthright but a willing Sox convert via a $1.5 million signing bonus, said he didn't watch much baseball last summer. Still, the tabloid fodder emanating from Fenway last fall was hard to ignore.

"I think it was shocking," Barnes said. "The Red Sox obviously have a very classy organization. They run a pretty tight ship, so it was kind of shocking to see that something like that would be going on."

The fallout from the Sox's collapse is well-documented, and, as Barnes alluded to, certainly shocked -- and rocked -- Red Sox Nation to its core. Gone are two-time World Series-winning manager Terry Francona, whom Barnes never got a chance to meet, and franchise architect Theo Epstein.

When he leaves for minor league training camp Feb. 22, Barnes, the 19th overall pick and 11th pitcher taken in the 2011 draft, begins his quest to become Epstein's last gift to the Nation. If form holds, as it did for previous first-round college fireballer Daniel Bard -- who was drafted 28th overall in 2006 out of the University of North Carolina, was named the Red Sox' Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2008, and became the big club's everyday set-up man midway through 2009 -- Barnes' wait could be relatively short.

But for Barnes, it's high time to start logging some significant innings, to finally dust off his prized right arm. The treads on his celebrity training wheels plenty worn, the 2011 Big East Pitcher of the Year is eager to shed all the labels, all the attention and just pitch.

BACK TO THE GAME

"My buddy's dad kinda put it in perspective," Barnes said. "You're only the first-round draft pick for one year. Come this June, somebody else is gonna be a first-round draft pick. So you've gotta enjoy it while you can. I'm more than excited to get back out there and start playing. I've only thrown two innings since June."

It's a sentiment likely shared by Valentine, who crossed paths with Barnes again last Saturday at UConn baseball's annual preseason dinner, special this year for its party favors (Big East championship rings) and guest speaker (Valentine).

Valentine's focus will be to rid the team of some distraction once pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 19. With Barnes in the fold, he's got at least one player toeing the new company line.

"There are a lot of good people in place right now to get the Red Sox back on track, to get them where we need to be and win some championships this year," Barnes said. "That taste of what happened -- losing that many games, dropping that big of a lead -- that taste sticks in your mouth for a while after it happens. So I don't think that's going to happen again. I think the team's looking good this year. Hopefully they can get back to winning World Series."